London's Secret Speakeasies

Traditionally, speakeasies were places for illegal boozing that came to prominence during the Prohibition era in 1920s America. But ever since, they have taken on a mythical status: teacups brimming with gin, suave jazz musicians and a glitzy, retro dress code. Here’s our pick of London’s speakeasy-inspired bars.The trend that started in the East End, as these things tend to do, has now swept across the city, with an ever-growing pool of speakeasy-style bars popping up behind nondescript doors, toilet walls and decoy fridges everywhere. Get ready to experience the prohibition years in suitable style, with our guide to the best of London’s American-inspired illicit drinking dens.

What follows is a list of the finest tucked-away, secret, hidden, or otherwise nearly-impossible-to-find bars.

Or, if you’re reading this for a second time, what follows is a list of bars that were tucked away, secret, hidden, or otherwise nearly-impossible-to-find …but are now as familiar to you as the back of your own hand.

This area of town isn’t as hip as it used to be, but Callooh Callay is still as much a destination in its own right as it is a hidey-hole to avoid the drinks-offer-seeking masses. Since opening in 2008, it’s consistently served some of the most innovative cocktails in London, even if the decor has been left behind: the Lewis Carroll/Victoriana theme is partially enforced, but too much ’90s Shoreditch irony (a wall of analogue cassettes, for instance) feels somewhat incongruous.

A cool spot even by Shoreditch standards, Callooh Callay once won Best Cocktail Menu in the World at the Tales of the Cocktail awards. There are three separate bars inside this Lewis Carroll-inspired venue, kept under wraps of varying tightness. Head to the back of the front bar, and you’ll find a wardrobe straight out of Narnia. Through there, and it’s into the Back Lounge. At the back of the Back Lounge, behind a curtain and up a flight of stairs, you’ll find the Jubjub bar. However, to crack your way inside the last Russian Doll, you’ll need a four-digit door code, and a membership to boot. Even if you don’t make it into the final bar, there should be plenty to satisfy you in the other two rooms, which are filled with cutesy, colourful furniture, plenty of mood lighting and an eclectic choice of killer cocktails.

Using the same naming convention as Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes in Shoreditch – ie open a bar but keep the old premises’ name – is this spot hidden away under one of the many clothiers and couturiers around Petticoat Lane. The area between Bishopsgate and Whitechapel is mainly deserted in the evening apart from the ghoulish Jack the Ripper groups, which makes a visit to Discount Suit Company feel even more clandestine.

Enter a dimly-lit neighbourhood cocktail bar entirely composed of exposed brickwork, scaffolding planks, Victorian floorboards and Motown records. There you’ll find head bartender Dorian – a man who returned from travelling the world completely fluent in the language of mixing killer drinks – serving up their signature cocktails. 

How to get in: Head for the black door next to an 1980s tailoring shop with a ramshackle wall sign.

The speakeasy trend reaches its apogee/nadir, depending on your taste, with this new basement bar accessed off Earl’s Court Road. ‘At all times do not draw unwanted attention to our venue,’ beseeches the menu. Oh, sorry. It makes a big noise about being secretive – I evaded an intercom interrogation by sneaking in behind a group of fellow drinkers. A dapper chap behind a desk then kept the schtick going: ‘Under what name did you book your appointment?’ And, ‘Can you tell me something about your case?’ A basement bar in Earl’s Court, Evans & Peel is accessed via a unique, if a little inscrutable, charade. Customers are greeted by an intercom system before a secret entrance opens up (if you have made an appointment), leading to the office of a detective who probes you on the nature of your ‘case’. If your interview is successful, out swings the bookcase and in you go. No doubt ‘Evans’ and ‘Peel’ knew this was more than enough quirk factor to draw crowds to their West End drinking den, and the charade ends abruptly. Once inside, Evans & Peel is a dark and sultry bar, crafted from old church pews, serving London Pale Ale through an antique radiator and bottles enclosed in brown paper bags – in case of cops, obviously.

One of the most genuinely undercover-feeling speakeasies in London. A bar filled with exposed brickwork, beaten white tiles, dickie-bow-clad bar staff and soft lighting, where you’ll be served bottles of booze in brown paper bags, and illegally good cocktails. 

How to get in: Buzz the door, head down to the detective’s office and state your case…